Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 10:17 a.m.

Developing tasty foods for people who are gluten intolerant, or gluten sensitive, has been one of the hottest trends in food service for a number of years now.

Facts

SaraFay Farm

Where: 2513-A NE Third St., Ocala; also booths at farmers markets on Saturdays in Ocala and The VillagesHours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday-FridayInfo: 873-9949

Once just a small display in niche shops such as Earth Origins, nowadays an array of gluten-free products occupy space on shelves in Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Publix and other mainstream grocery stores. More and more restaurants also are offering gluten-free options.

But fresh-baked gluten-free products have remained, for the most part, elusive; after all, how can you bake bread or cookies without flour? And what's flour but a medium for the gluten protein? As we all know, anyone with a known sensitivity who eats it anyway is a gluten for punishment.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

For years now, B.J. Whitaker has been a cottage baker, baking goods in her home kitchen to sell at The Villages and Ocala farmers markets on Saturdays. One day, she said, she was challenged to come up with baked goodies the gluten-sensitive could eat.

“I started with peanut-butter cookies,” she said recently, standing in her newly opened shop, SaraFay Farm at 2513-A NE Third St., Ocala. “The recipe I had was an easy mix. Well, they were a hit. I kept getting more and more requests.”

She ultimately developed an array of gluten-free goodies — cookies, breads, brownies, seasonings, croutons, even cake-pops — that now are her primary stock and focus.

“I still do some regular breads. I have customers who want it,” Whitaker said. “I used to bake that one day a week; now it's down to about once every three weeks.”

The new shop is small, in the plaza a few doors down from Honey's School of Dance; there's a table, a shelf, a counter and a small refrigerated display case. But when your product line is understandably limited, how much more space would one need?

Much of what she offers now is gluten free, but Whitaker also has been expanding her line to meet such other dietary regimens as vegan, paleo and now ketogenic — a high-fat, low-carb diet typically suggested to treat epilepsy in children but apparently now is gaining traction among those dealing with cancer, too.

Whitaker said she wasn't totally unfamiliar with gluten-free food preparation. Years back when she was a server at a Belleview restaurant, she was the one who was always called upon when a customer required special attention.

“But I made people happy,” she said. “If they needed gluten-free, I made sure they got gluten-free. If there was some other special requirement, I went back to the kitchen to make sure it was done for them.”

A customer gave her a list of what was considered gluten-free; that was 10 years ago. She's been improving on that list ever since.

As she talked, Eric Eining walked into the small shop. “Glad you're finally open,” he said.

Eining explained that he had been put on a very strict diet recently: no sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no honey. Sure, he said he'd lost 42 pounds in two and a half months, but finding food meeting his strict diet was challenging.

Whitaker pulled out a loaf of ketogenic bread and handed it to him. He examined the label.

“Wow,” he exclaimed, “I can have that. This is awesome.”

Whitaker said most of her customers want these baked goods not because they simply want to lose weight, but “they do it for medical reasons, health reasons. They want certain things, so I go home and figure out how to make it.”

She and her husband, Mike, still take SaraFay goodies to the farmers markets in Ocala and The Villages every Saturday morning; she to one and he to the other. They swap every week, she said.

But this small shop is something of a dream come true. For one thing, it means her home kitchen isn't always baking central. And there's a lot more storage.

<p>Developing tasty foods for people who are gluten intolerant, or gluten sensitive, has been one of the hottest trends in food service for a number of years now.</p><p>Once just a small display in niche shops such as Earth Origins, nowadays an array of gluten-free products occupy space on shelves in Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Publix and other mainstream grocery stores. More and more restaurants also are offering gluten-free options.</p><p>But fresh-baked gluten-free products have remained, for the most part, elusive; after all, how can you bake bread or cookies without flour? And what's flour but a medium for the gluten protein? As we all know, anyone with a known sensitivity who eats it anyway is a gluten for punishment.</p><p>Sorry, couldn't resist.</p><p>For years now, B.J. Whitaker has been a cottage baker, baking goods in her home kitchen to sell at The Villages and Ocala farmers markets on Saturdays. One day, she said, she was challenged to come up with baked goodies the gluten-sensitive could eat.</p><p>“I started with peanut-butter cookies,” she said recently, standing in her newly opened shop, SaraFay Farm at 2513-A NE Third St., Ocala. “The recipe I had was an easy mix. Well, they were a hit. I kept getting more and more requests.” </p><p>She ultimately developed an array of gluten-free goodies — cookies, breads, brownies, seasonings, croutons, even cake-pops — that now are her primary stock and focus.</p><p>“I still do some regular breads. I have customers who want it,” Whitaker said. “I used to bake that one day a week; now it's down to about once every three weeks.”</p><p>The new shop is small, in the plaza a few doors down from Honey's School of Dance; there's a table, a shelf, a counter and a small refrigerated display case. But when your product line is understandably limited, how much more space would one need?</p><p>The SaraFay hours are limited, though: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.</p><p>Much of what she offers now is gluten free, but Whitaker also has been expanding her line to meet such other dietary regimens as vegan, paleo and now ketogenic — a high-fat, low-carb diet typically suggested to treat epilepsy in children but apparently now is gaining traction among those dealing with cancer, too.</p><p>Whitaker said she wasn't totally unfamiliar with gluten-free food preparation. Years back when she was a server at a Belleview restaurant, she was the one who was always called upon when a customer required special attention.</p><p>“But I made people happy,” she said. “If they needed gluten-free, I made sure they got gluten-free. If there was some other special requirement, I went back to the kitchen to make sure it was done for them.”</p><p>A customer gave her a list of what was considered gluten-free; that was 10 years ago. She's been improving on that list ever since.</p><p>As she talked, Eric Eining walked into the small shop. “Glad you're finally open,” he said. </p><p>Eining explained that he had been put on a very strict diet recently: no sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no honey. Sure, he said he'd lost 42 pounds in two and a half months, but finding food meeting his strict diet was challenging.</p><p>Whitaker pulled out a loaf of ketogenic bread and handed it to him. He examined the label.</p><p>“Wow,” he exclaimed, “I can have that. This is awesome.”</p><p>Whitaker said most of her customers want these baked goods not because they simply want to lose weight, but “they do it for medical reasons, health reasons. They want certain things, so I go home and figure out how to make it.”</p><p>She and her husband, Mike, still take SaraFay goodies to the farmers markets in Ocala and The Villages every Saturday morning; she to one and he to the other. They swap every week, she said.</p><p>But this small shop is something of a dream come true. For one thing, it means her home kitchen isn't always baking central. And there's a lot more storage.</p><p>“I feel great, I'm finally here,” she said. “This has always been a goal.”</p><p><i>Contact Rick Allen at rick.allen@starbanner.com or 867-4154.</i></p>